Sharing the things I geek out over!

Tag Archives: Super Mario Bros

In this blog series, Crafty Geek Corner, I will highlight my favorite pins each Monday(-ish).

Back to the blog business, after another hiatus. Eek. Work has been pretty intense, but here is another stab at consistency!

This week I have been nostalgic for all things 8-bit (man I wish I had kept my NES; check out this post for more!). This of course, what drove me to pixel all of the things!

8-Bit DIY

I was looking over my Crafty Geek Pinterest board & noticed that my nostalgia for all things “old school” video game era definitely had an influence. I’m obviously not alone in my nostalgia, as is shown by the vast amount of DIY geeky crafts available in Pinterest. Here are 5 of my current favorites.

Link Quilt 8-bit DIY

How can you not fall in love all over again with 8-bit Link?! This is a quilt any Legend of Zelda fan would love to receive. A quilt is such a great idea for 8-bit interpretation because it lends itself to the use of little blocks while creating your image.

Totoro 8-bit DIY

Another fabulous way to interpret 8-bit geekiness is with Legos! If you are like me (& chances are, if you are checking out my site, we are), you are a sucker for anything Miyazaki. How amazing is this Totoro incarnation?! I cannot get enough of the umbrella. Love it!

Custom Bubble Bobble perler bead DIY

Just as Legos are a great adaptation of 8-bit, so are perler beads. Here, this featured crafty geek pin is about one of my favorite video games on my beloved NES, Bubble Booble! I was really into this game, as it was the perfect blend of a puzzler & adorable. If you missed out on the gem of a game, look into it, because it is addictive.

Custom Super Mario Bros. perler keychains DIY

Some more Nintendo love: keychains! Keychains that are not stabby in your pocket or bag are always welcome. The fact that these are awesome shout-outs to your childhood, just makes it a bonus. These are currently not available, because FreakCreations is taking a break, but definitely keep an eye out for when it is back online actively.

Custom Boba Fett 8-bit DIY

via Stickaz

I couldn’t go without having a Star Wars reference! Here is a pattern that could be used for cross-stitch or perler beads. Bobby Fett being badass Boba Fett.

Well, that is all for today! In the meantime, feel free to share links to your own 8-bit inspired DIY posts in the comments. I’ll gladly pin them to my Crafty Geek Pinterest board!

In this new blog series, Crafty Geek Corner, I will highlight my favorite pins each Monday. This will hopefully accomplish two of my goals: 1) continue time management & blog consistency, & 2) share more ways to geek out over fandoms with all of you!

This week’s installment is all about classic Super Mario Bros. NES nostalgia! Retrogamers rejoice in crafts!

Super Mario Bros. (NES) DIY – Pet Edition

To continue my reminiscing all things NES Super Mario Bros. from my latest Defining My Childhood post, this week’s Crafty Corner takes me to the crafty depths of my childhood nostalgia. While preparing this post, I found myself drawn to all of the crafts related to integrating our pets into our fandoms & so the result is today’s Pet Edition post!

Super Mario Bros. Cat Condo

If you have a cat, then you know a cat must climb! Why not have you cat enjoy your childhood nostalgia along with you. This Super Mario Bros. themed cat condo add-on is genius. Check out the walk-through on TheMarySue.com.

Super Mario Bros. Themed Aquarium

What an absolutely enchanting idea: to recreate a portion of a level from Super Mario Bros. for your fishes! I guess, if it works for cats, why not fish? This picture just makes me smile. Check out more at Gizmodo.com.

Bowser Inspired Turtle Sweater DIY

Isn’t this the best & cutest idea ever for any turtle owners?! I love it, I just can’t stand the cuteness. This is the most appropriate incorporation of Super Mario Bros lore into pet living. Thank you Pets Lady for bringing this into my life!

Okay, so it is no secret that this game was, & still is, amazing. The graphics (for the time!), colors, & soundtrack are perfection. The gameplay was fun; stressful, but fun. I was on Pinterest recently & saw this meme depicting Mario on the very edge after landing a jump:

This game’s soundtrack still transports me to when I was younger & playing, regardless of the context. My palms still get balmy & my heart accelerates whenever the music that meant you were running out of time/health plays, even when I am not even playing the game! I had that ringtone on my iPhone for exactly one week before I just couldn’t stand it. I would freak out whenever I’d receive a call. I kept the music from Level 1 as one of my designated ringtones (assigned to my mom) on my iPhone, which is a happy audio trigger.

This musical trigger also affected me years later while playing Super Mario Galaxy! The music is not the only thing that transports me. Whenever I would play Super Mario Galaxy, I’d obsessively collect extra lives, only to be irate when I reloaded my saved game to be back down to 3 lives! Obviously, this harks back to the pre-save conditions of the original Super Mario Bros.

This is a game I remember my mom playing, as well. Watching someone play this game is almost as fun as playing it yourself. Jumping along with the character was a normal sight.

I would often go back to this game & replay it, years after I first played it through. On my previous JB iPhone, I had this ROM & found myself playing this & Legend of Zelda all the time. There is a huge retrogaming community & it is very active. This is a testament to how influential these games were to those generations.

I used to LOVE going to the arcade. There was something about the whole ambiance that just enhanced a certain gaming experience for me. I’m planning on discussing home consoles in further depth within this series, but for now I will say this: once Sega decided that the home console market was no longer a focus (I loved my Sega Genesis!), it went all out in creating fabulous arcade games. Some of these are mentioned in this post.

10. Silent Scope (Konami)

via www.arcade-musuem.com

This gem of a machine by Konami game came out after I had become hooked on the Time Crisis series, & it was great to play through the actual scope. My inner snipper couldn’t have been happier in the arcade. Playing through the scope, also, created a sort of focus cocoon while at an arcade. You were more focused on the game than in normal instances. The story was not the draw for me, as much as the experience this arcade came created.

9. Paperboy (Atari Games)

via arcade-museum.com

Who knew that vicariously having a paper route would be so fun? Well, apparently, some marketing genius at Atari Games did! I even played this on my NES when it came out. It seems so weird to me now, but there was great satisfaction in throwing a paper perfectly into the mailbox of someone who had a subscription.

8. Donkey Kong (Nintendo)

via arcade-museum.com

The inspiration for Mario of Super Mario Bros., & clearly riffing off of King Kong’s kidnapping tendencies. Ladders, barrels, a very upset giant ape.

This game had it all: funky looking main character, trippy color combos, & jumping diagonally.

6. Frogger (Sega/Gremlin)

via arcade-museum.com

Crossing the street has never been so fun, frustrating, & deadly! Why the frog in Frogger couldn’t swim & why those diving turtles were so treacherous are still unknown.

5. Pac-Man (Midway)

via arcade-museum.com

One of the first arcade video games that made a big impression on me. This was all about memorizing the paths of the ghosts & outsmarting the pattern. Also, I love that the characters had nicknames!

4. Dragon’s Lair (Cinematronics)

via arcade-museum.com

Laserdisc technology meant amazing graphics! You get to direct the choices of Dirk the Daring (which is a great name BTW) in this great arcade RPG. You basically need to make the “right” choice or poor Dirk instantly died.

3. Star Wars Trilogy (Sega)

This arcade game cost me a bunch of money in 1998, as I gladly took part in some of the most memorable battles of the Star Wars trilogy. Battling Darth Vader with a light saber: check! Fly a X-Wing on the assault on the Death Star: check! Trip up a AT-AT on Hoth: check! Parry blaster shots from Boba Fett with your lightsaber?! Check!

2. Galaga (Namco)

via arcade-museum.com

I love this game! If I see this arcade machine anywhere, I play it. I cannot even adequately describe why I like it so much, but I had a moment of epiphany recently while playing the opening sequence of the campaign mode of Call of Duty: Advance Warfare. There is a swarm of flying drones that are attacking your unit in Korea & you need to jump into a tank to take them out. Once in the tank, you take control of the turret & the swarm of drones becomes a modern version of Galaga! I keep replaying that sequence just for the sheer fun of reliving Galaga. Granted you end up needing to use an EMP to take the swarm out completely, it is just all kinds of nostalgic fun.

1. Ms. Pac-Man (Midway)

via arcade-museum.com

One of the most famous Ms. ever. Talk about fun! Obviously a spin-off of Pac-Man, this game was fun in its own right because it had different mazes that alternated, instead of the same maze.

So what games are on your Top 10? Share in the comments, send me a tweet @GeekSideShowing, or like my blog’s FB page.